Of Angels and Watchmakers
by Teddy R. Lupin
Summary: [Working Title] One day, an angel saved a watchmaker's life. That day, the watchmaker's life changed. But maybe it would have been better had she not walked into his shop that day. Maybe they would have been both been spared the pain that surely ends all good things. Canon Syelle, Gabriel-centric.
1. Part I

I really couldn't resist. My other _Heroes_ fic got a rather small but supportive audience, so when I wrote this little thing tonight, I figured - why the hell not? So here it is. More Syelle.

_"Enemy, familiar friend, my beginning and my end..."_ ~ 'Nothing and Everything' by RED

* * *

His hands were covered with blood - the trembling hands of a murderer. A man with his skull split open lay carelessly on the other side of the floor, the horrified expression the man died with and the blank eyes of the corpse staring back at the killer, taunting him. He should have died. The murderer, the killer, he should have died. He was _going_ to die. It was _her_, _she_ was the reason he was still alive. He'd had the chance to rid the world of himself for good, and he was doing it, he had been dying. He had been taking his own life, then she stepped into his world and changed it.

_"Well look at you, Elle, just showing up out of nowhere."_

And she had. In only a few hours, she had listened to him, she had trusted him - without even knowing what he'd done, the man he'd killed simply because he was 'special.' And he'd been so naive, so innocent that he didn't even _realise_ he was being played.

_"Like an angel."_

But oh, Elle Bishop had not been an angel. She'd appeared to be one, all blonde hair and smiles. She was beautiful, and she reduced such a shy man like Gabriel to fixing buttons on his shirtsleeves and adjusting his glasses just as excuses not to meet her blue-eyed gaze. Maybe he shouldn't have been drawn in, but he had thought he _knew_ how she worked, like he knew the inner workings of the watches he so loved to fix. He thought that she'd felt something too. Peach pie, baked ziti...broken watches... Did it mean anything, anything at all?

Had she ever really cared for him, or had she simply been playing a part?

Because he'd thought she cared. He really did.

But she'd been lying to him the whole time. She'd pretended to be amazed by his abilities, by his _stolen_ ability. She'd played the wide-eyed child, awestruck by something that shouldn't even exist. When the whole time, she had an ability herself, she knew perfectly well who he was and what he'd done - she'd been following orders. He'd spared her life. Should he have? Should he have just let her run away, run back to her precious boss, or whoever it was that had bullied her _into_ manipulating him? Should he have just cut her open and stolen her ability too?

If Gabriel was honest with himself, he couldn't. Not now, and not _ever_. He could never kill Elle Bishop, because he _loved_ her. He couldn't help himself, and before he realised his rookie mistake, he'd fallen too hard. And that girl, that girl with the blonde hair and the broken watch, would be his weakness.

* * *

Drop me a line to tell me how I did, if you liked, add it to favourites or story alert, because this is not a one-shot, I do fully intend on writing more as soon as I get the chance, or the inspiration.

Cheers!

~Teddy


	2. Part II

Chapter two, episode tag for "It's Coming." Next is "The Eclipse, Part I" and after that, "The Eclipse, Part II." I may write a tag also for "Brave New World" after that, but that's it for this story. I may write an AU next if I feel like it.

Hope you enjoy.

_"All these heroes come and go, but you're still standing..."_ ~ 'Heroes' by David Cook

* * *

His whole life, Gabriel Gray had searched for family, had searched for a place to belong. His whole life, ironically, Gabriel Gray had also been abandoned for as long as he could remember. His father walking out on him, his mother pushing him to rise up when all he'd ever wanted to be, really, was just Gabriel. Imbedded within him was a deep-seeded need to feel special, to _be_ special. To be different, to be unlike anyone else. But at the same time, he just needed his mother to tell him that he didn't _need_ to be any different. That maybe, he could just be Gabriel, and she could still love him.

His dear mother Virginia, who had died because of his curse.

Why had he accepted the Petrellis so openly, why had he let his guard down? He should have considered the possibility that they were lying, that they were simply _using_ him. But so like a little boy, so yearning for love and acceptance, he took their words with the utmost sincerity and tried to be better. He wanted to be a good person. He knew it.

The solitary, lonely tear streamed down his face as he felt electricity pour through his veins, erupting delicately from his trembling fingertips as he realised, truly, that he had never had to kill a single person. That he had the ability to take people's abilities without taking a single life. He could've been a hero. He could've been a proper friend and brother to Peter, who was somewhere out there, defenceless. His breath trembled as he gasped out his amazement, a grin spreading, finally, onto his face.

"Oh my god..."

His breathless laugh allowed even the sweaty, weakened Elle Bishop a smile. Dark eyes diverting from her face and back to his still-tingling hands, Sylar conjured up a slight bit of electricity, almost looking up nervously to Elle as if to ask if he was doing it right, as if he was doing okay. She smiled at him and nodded encouragingly, and suddenly all thoughts of Arthur, all thoughts of the Petrellis had vanished from his mind. They didn't matter.

But Elle did.

This girl whose life he had spared not once, but twice now. This girl he had once fallen too hard for, the very girl who had betrayed him. And funnily enough, that didn't seem to matter to him.

_"I only saved you so we could use you. Like a lab rat." _

Maybe that had been true. For some reason, the Company had needed to see his ability in action, they needed to see him kill, when that was the last thing he had ever wanted to do. The funny thing, though, is how little that bothered him now when he looked into Elle's grateful face.

Years hadn't changed how her grin made his heart skip a beat.

Oh, yes, he still loved her.

_"I forgive you."_

He'd forgiven her before she'd even left his apartment building the day he'd killed Trevor Zeitlan.

_"Now you need to forgive yourself."_

That was the real trick.

But, Gabriel mused as Elle began to teach him to correctly harness her ability, it had been worth it. They were both broken and tortured, both unloved and misunderstood. Maybe they could help each other.

* * *

Remember to review, cookies for all who do. Or scones, if you prefer. Or waffles. I'm good at making all of those. ^_^

Cheers,

Teddy


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